Swift response to school shooter in Nashville underscores failures in Uvalde

Police in Nashville neutralized the shooting threat inside the Covenant School in 14 minutes — it took 77 in Uvalde. Both, however, contain different variables.

DALLAS, Texas — Body camera footage showing an immediate and urgent response to the shooting threat at a private Christian elementary school in Nashville captivated America Tuesday. 

From the time suspect 28-year-old Audrey Hale arrived at the campus of the Covenant School to the time they were shot and killed, 14 minutes elapsed per police.

Officers are seen in the video entering the school swiftly and then making their way to the second floor, where they shot and killed Hale near a window as Hale was firing toward police below. 

Six people in all were killed, including three children who were all 9 years old. 

The response has drawn comparisons to how law enforcement responded to the Uvalde shooter, a gunman who entered Robb Elementary on May 24 and killed 19 children and two teachers. 

A comparison that caught the eyes of many came from Texas Senator Roland Gutierrez (D-San Antonio). 

Gutierrez represents Uvalde alongside his Democratic counterpart Representative Tracy King in the Texas House. 

On Twitter, Gutierrez pointed out the differences in response time and said that the Texas Department of Safety needs to be held accountable for its failures.  

He also noted that officials in Nashville didn’t hesitate to release body camera footage of Monday’s shooting. 

Texans’ first look at security and body camera footage of the shooting in Uvalde was weeks after the fact and only after video files were leaked. 

Sen. Gutierrez pointed out that he even had to sign a non-disclosure agreement after viewing the footage in his capacity as a lawmaker. 

“The last 24 hours have been substantially different from what occurred in Texas,” said Gutierrez. 

The senator pointed out that only Uvalde officials have released footage from the scene that day, not the state. 

“The Texas Department of Public Safety, to this day, doesn’t want us to see their failures. There was 100% transparency in Tennessee compared to zero in Texas,” he said. 

Both situations and threats are very different, however, from policing perspectives. 

In the Nashville body camera footage, everything went right for responding officers. 

They’re seen entering the building with aid from church employees/officials that give them information about where the suspect is located in the building. 

The officers then work through the building until they reach the second floor and shoot Hale with a clear shot and zero resistance.

In Uvalde, officers arrived with the same urgency but were met with gunfire from the gunman inside a Robb Elementary classroom. 

The officers then viewed the gunman as a barricaded subject instead of an active shooter while children inside the classroom needed help. 

They waited and tried reasoning with the gunman until a small SWAT team arrived.

That decision has led to heavy criticism and several terminations. 

The state has promised to release a report about officers’ actions and if they would have saved more children that day if they were more urgent. 

“In Nashville, you saw cops react immediately to the crisis, to the emergency. Everything that should have happened, yet didn’t happen here in Texas,” said Gutierrez. 

The Nashville shooting comes as lawmakers in Texas push new legislation regarding school safety statewide.  

Everything is on the table, like spending millions on hardening school campuses, hiring resource officers, and bolstering oversight for school shooter preparedness. 

Sen. Gutierrez and other Democrats are upset that gun reform isn’t included in discussions with their Republican colleagues. 

“We need to do something,” Gutierrez said. “Under no circumstances should an 18-year-old without a military background be allowed to go and buy an AR-15 like he’s going to buy a soda at the 7-Eleven.”